Friday, March 31, 2017

We Marched Right Into Some Great Books This Month!

Cheers, everyone, and welcome to our Top Reads in the month of March! It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the end of another month—it seems like we were just here sharing our February picks—yet here we are with not only some great titles but a chance to win two e-books, so check out the Rafflecopter widget below for entry details.

And now, here they are, the Best of March!

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Jules – Strays by Garrett Leigh – “When I heard Leigh was writing a follow up to Misfits, I was beyond excited. Aside from loving the characters, I completely loved everything about the whole Urban Soul universe; so, I was looking forward to reading about the latest ventures the guys were going to be undertaking. My interest was piqued even further when I realized who one of the main characters would be. Nero was certainly intriguing as a secondary character, but I have to be honest—I had nooo idea how in love with him I was going to fall.”

Ben – The Bisti Business by Don Travis – “One of my favorite aspects of this book was the plot. It was tight and pretty evenly paced. On the other side of that, there wasn’t a ton of character development or exploration into the side relationships established in book one. Despite being a minor character in this book, I wanted to see more of Del Dahlman, a hilarious fancy pants playboy who has sort of a unique friendship/business relationship with BJ. I would have also liked to see more of BJ’s boyfriend, Paul. Paul’s pretty simple and adorable, but I love how he brings out the softer—and sometimes harder!—sides to BJ. Maybe next time.”

Lindsey – Pieces of Me by Melanie Hansen – “This is the start to what I hope will lead eventually to an epic HEA. Because after what I just read? I am cheering like a loon for Scott and Rylan. Even so, I readily admit this book will definitely not be for everyone. It’s tragic, heartbreaking and runs through a gamut of emotions I can barely even find appropriate superlatives to describe. There are happy moments, but for the most part both these young men are struggling, first as teenagers stuck in pretty abysmal situations, then as adults struggling to better themselves while carrying some pretty hefty baggage, which has molded them into a certain type of mentality and behaviors.”

Maryann – The Mystery of the Curiosities by C.S. Poe – “While Sebastian and Calvin are slowly but surely progressing with their relationship, they are also each dealing with their vulnerabilities—you can feel the fear that Sebastian has about losing Calvin. I really liked book one in this series, The Mystery of Nevermore, because I was familiar with Edgar Allan Poe, but with this sequel, the series gets even better. Max Ridley, Sebastian’s assistant, gets wrapped up in this mystery too, which I thought was fun because his character brings a lot of humor to the story. I was also intrigued because I knew of P.T. Barnum—the first thought when you hear the name is always the circus, but he brought us the “curiosities” too, which were bizarre, and it was interesting to see how C.S. Poe constructed a fantastic plot around them.”

Carrie – The Puritan Pirate by Jules Radcliffe – “I love a good pirate story and this one didn’t disappoint. The historical aspects are spot-on (at least, they seem that way), and learning about the politics of the time, as well as life aboard a privateer, was interesting. Radcliffe does an excellent job blending these “facts” with her romance between these men. The political intrigue only enhances her story, it doesn’t detract—actually, it makes her romance seem rooted in real life and we get transported to 1600s Tortuga. Radcliffe did her homework on this one. You can tell, and I appreciate that.”

Sadonna – Moment of Fate by Karen Stivali – “Wow! I was really blown away by this story. I wasn’t a huge fan of the first three books in this series, and I’ve yet to read book four even though I bought right when it was released. This story is so well written; although, if you’re not a fan of angst, you might have a tough go of it. Bryan has a lot going on and some of the crap that he has to deal with is pretty intense. He’s proud and a bit damaged.

Oliver is such a lovely guy, truly a good man who is so right for Bryan in pretty much every way. Together they have to overcome Bryan’s fear and tendency to protect himself at all costs.

This is truly a beautifully written love story between two pretty dissimilar guys who overcome the odds. Highly recommended, particularly for lovers of underdogs who grow and triumph.”

Kim – Until You by TJ Klune – “Until You is the latest installment in this fun and wacky series, and I loved how it didn’t disappoint when it came to good old fashion belly laughs. Paul is perfect with all his doubts and insecurities, and I love his character because of it. The fact that he doesn’t have a perfect build just makes him all the more human to me. When he starts to wonder that Vince may have doubts about marrying him, it takes a visit to a supply closet to convince Paul beyond a doubt that Vince loves and wants to marry him (I won’t give details, but it was a scene that made me smile big and giggle a few times).”

Sammy – Adulting 101 by Lisa Henry – “Honestly, I loved this story—the walking magical disaster that is Nick was just so wonderful to get to know. He was honest to a fault (think word vomit with no filter), kindhearted, easily excited and undaunted despite his own penchant for lying to his parents to avoid really confronting them about his lack of enthusiasm for college and the life they want for him. The awkward and sometimes poignant distance between he and his Dad is cleverly concealed with humor, yet Lisa Henry allows small cracks and fissures to bleed through, making Nick so damn lovable and vulnerable. We watch him become a man in this story—well, we watch him begin to become a man, and not in the way you might think. He learns to give honesty a chance; he is wary to say the least, but in the end, it becomes his lifeline and enables him to step into a world that previously was unattainable to the panic-stricken youth he had been to this point. Honestly, he is just adorable and funny and really delightful to get to know.”

Lisa – Parasite by Soren Summers – “One of the things that Soren Summers does with a consistent beauty is translate his narrative into gorgeous imagery. Even in its horrific and morbid portrayal, each zombie encounter is stunning in its terror and violence and the uncertainty of who will and won’t come out on the other side alive. It’s his ability to draw the reader in by the senses that makes these books so engrossing, and it’s not an exaggeration at all to say that I see the story as much as I read it. Jonathan Hargrove appearing on page is enough to send a chill down my spine—better the devil you know? In his case, the answer to that is a definitive not. He is a conundrum of deadly proportions and composed in creepy perfection, as is this book and this series.”

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And that does it for this month. For full reviews of these books and more, visit us at The Novel Approach. Until next time, happy reading!

Oh yeah, book covers... I always try to keep the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" in mind, but more often than not I fail. I have read books with "ugly" or "unappealing" covers that were beyond great. And there are books with great covers that suck. But still, I fall for great covers again and again XD

The cover of Forest of Thorns and Claws by J.T. Hall looks great and so do the ones from Stolen Ink by Holly Evans and Too Many Fairy Princes by Alex Beecroft.

Scarred by Mia, Beau and the Beast by Kay Simone, Plenty of Fish by Josh Lanyon, There's This Guy by Rhys Ford, Goodnight My Angel by Sue Brown are some of the books I read and liked this month. There are so many cool covers out there. I can't wait to see Shelter the Sea by Heidi Cullinan, the cover for book 1 is stunning.

I loved the Mutt and The Poison Within by Kasia Bacon... I'm really looking forward to reading the first novel in the series. As for covers, some of them are really appealing. The one in The Poison Within, for example. I find it enticing

I think the old adage is no longer, you can tell something at least by the cover. A really good one from last year that perfectly matched this mixed genre western anthology - Once Upon a Time in the Weird West. - TheWrote [at] aol [dot] com

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In My Books

The main characters in all of my books are in the process of looking for and finding true love. The road is assuredly rocky but there is always a happily ever after as that is what they all deserve. It's what we all deserve.